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DateWed, 6 Mar 1996 17:18:35 -0500 (EST)
FromJauder Ho <>
SubjectRe: Linux isn't an operating system
	Hence I submit the term "GNU based Linux system" =)

--Jauder

On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, lilo wrote:

> On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
> > I would expect that most of the people who speak of "the Linux
> > operating system" think of this as just a minor lack of precision.
> 
> Not at all.  It's usually a pretty precise term.  What unifies Linux users
> is the Linux kernel.  If we weren't running the Linux kernel, for example,
> we might all be running HURD. ;)
> 
> > But aside from being unfair (which by itself would not be worth
> > fussing about), it also tends to split the community and thus
> > discourage communication and cooperation.  When the people who use
> > what is essentially the GNU system think of themselves as "Linux
> > users", and not as "GNU users", often they don't see a reason
> > cooperate with the people who maintain the GNU software.  This leads
> > to version-skew and unnecessary incompatibility.
> 
> Linux users use quite a bit of GNU software, and we're all grateful that
> it's available.  We also use a fair amount of non-GNU software.  I don't
> believe it's a fair characterization to consider Linux a ``GNU-based
> system.''  There are very few cases in which we are using GNU software in
> which some alternative doesn't, or couldn't, exist.  All kudos to
> GNU-*style* licensing, which is another matter entirely....
> 
> > One way to help unify the community, and gently encourage more
> > cooperation, is to use the term "Linux-based GNU system" to
> > describe these systems more accurately.
> 
> Linux is nothing if not pluralistic.  Too much unification is probably not
> the most useful thing in the world.  It discourages the diversity which has
> been one of Linux' strengths.
> 
> There are many GNU-based Linux systems.  Unless one is a GNU developer,
> though, one is less likely to consider one's system a ``Linux-based GNU
> system,'' and justifiably so.
> 
> 
> lilo
> 
> 

NOTE: The Most Fundamental Particles in This Message Are Held Together by
a 'Gluing' Force About Which Little Is Currently Known and Whose Adhesive
Power Can Therefore Not be Permanently Guaranteed.



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